Caring for the Caregivers

Research and Resources for Family Caregivers

Family caregivers take on so much – from cooking and
cleaning to managing medications, looking after finances,
and providing transportation to doctor appointments.
Doing it all for someone you love can be beautiful and
fulfilling, and also draining and guilt-inducing.

As America’s population ages and the number of those
with severe health issues increases, more family caregivers
will find themselves in similar situations. But to ensure
proper care for aging seniors, new research finds that
family caregivers also need to take proper care of
themselves.

44.6

The average number of hours per week a spouse/partner
spends caring for their loved one.

SOURCE: Caregiving in the U.S., 2015 Report; AARP

Age and Emotional Well-Being: The Varied Emotional
Experience of Family Caregivers, is a research study
conducted by the Stanford Center on Longevity and the
Stanford University Psychology Department that found
family caregivers – older ones especially - run the risk
of poor well-being and depression when they take on the
job of caring for a severely ill loved one. This may be
because their social relationships suffer too, which are
important for their well-being.

Comfort Keepers® collaborated with Stanford and the
home care services software company ClearCare to survey
2,000 adults who had hired a Comfort Keepers caregiver
to help an ailing relative. The survey found that family
caregivers caring for a severely ill loved one often
experienced social isolation and negative impacts to
their emotional wellbeing.

The positive association between age and emotional
well-being is present for people whose relative has
a mild illness, but not for those whose relative has
a severe illness.

SOURCE: Age and Emotional Well-Being: The Varied
Emotional Experience of Family Caregivers

The study reveals what all too many caregivers know, yet fail
to do – they need to care for themselves too. It’s only when
they take care of themselves that they can take good care of
their loved one. Sometimes, that means asking for help from
other family members. It can also mean turning to home care
services, like those available from Comfort Keepers, for a
helping hand. Comfort Keepers offers
respite care and
senior care services that enable family caregivers to receive the
help they need to take care of their senior loved ones and
themselves.

Download the study to learn more about the impacts that
caregiving can have on the emotional wellbeing of family
caregivers, or explore our
videos and resources for
family caregivers.

Evolution of Senior Care

Comfort Keepers, Stanford Center on Longevity, and
ClearCare collaborated to study the effects of family
caregiving.

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